The TV ratings are in for Week 8 of the CFL season. The Canadian Football League had only three games telecast last week. A Wednesday game on 9/22, between Hamilton and Ottawa, which saw the Ti-Cats best the Redblacks 24-7. The other two games aired on Friday night. A doubleheader which saw Toronto top Montreal 30-27, and Saskatchewan defeat the BC Lions in dramatic fashion 31-24 in the closing seconds.
A week ago. Week 7’s CFL games on TSN averaged 566,000 viewers per telecast. Through seven weeks, the 2021 CFL ON TSN season has attracted an average audience of 551,000 viewers, increasing +14% compared to the same point in the 2019 season.
Let’s look at how the CFL fared in the ratings this past week, with ESPN2 finally back on the radar, producing a solid number.
CFL ON TSN: Week 8 TV Ratings
Wednesday’s 9/22 game on TSN between the Ottawa Redblacks and Hamilton Tiger-Cats averaged 338,000 viewers.
With competition from the Toronto Blue Jays and Minnesota Twins, which drew 756,000 viewers on SN. Friday’s Montreal Alouettes-Toronto Argonauts contest averaged 339,000 viewers.
On Friday, the second half of TSN’s CFL doubleheader between the Saskatchewan Roughriders and BC Lions topped the week’s ratings at 618,000 viewers. Saskatchewan has consistently been the CFL’s top-rated team all season. Back in week 5, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers/Saskatchewan Roughriders game averaged 990,000 viewers. Making it the most-watched CFL ON TSN regular-season game since 2015.
For week 8. The CFL averaged 431,000 viewers. That’s down from last week’s average (566k) and the season average overall (551k)
CFL ON ESPN2: Week 8 TV Ratings
Friday Night’s Saskatchewan Roughriders-BC Lions game on ESPN2 averaged 241,000 viewers. SSK-BC was ranked #84th out of 150 Cable shows in the 18-49 demo for the evening. A 0.07 rating in that demographic. Impressive considering the late timeframe that the game aired, 10:30 pm ET.
Friday’s game was CFL’s highest viewership total of the season on ESPN2, dating back to the season’s opening week, where Edmonton and Ottawa registered 174,000 viewers on ESPN2. That game scored a 0.05 in the 18-49 demo. (82nd on Saturday amongst Cable shows)
The numbers for CFL’s American telecasts have been hard to come by. Simply because the majority of the ESPN telecasts air on ESPN+ and ESPN News. Nielsen Media Research no longer monitors ESPN News ratings for the network, as they have in the past.
Barring a schedule change, The only remaining ESPN2 regular-season telecast of a CFL game will occur in the playoffs on November 28th, with the Eastern Semi-Final. Followed by the broadcast of The 108th Grey Cup, which will air on ESPN2 on Sunday, December 12th.
